Monday, August 30, 2004

If they were given a wide open shot at greed's brass ring, just how far would the NeanderCons go?

For example, if Gordon Campbell was granted three wishes tomorrow would he:

1) Get rid of all trade unions?
2) Privatize all crown corporations?
3) Shred every last strand in the social safety net?

Maybe.....but, lucky for us Gordo has not yet found his one true fairy godmother.

****

As for the Iraqi people....

Well, according to Naomi Klein, they have not been so lucky.

In a cogently written and well researched (ie. she actually leaves the GreenZone when she visits Baghdad) piece in the Sept. Harpers our Ms. Klein chronicles the plight of 25 million Iraqis who, after first being subjected to the shock and awe of America's military campaign, were immediately plunged into super-cooled, less than zero freezing cold bath of economic shock therapy that began with the firing of 500,000 state workers.

This massive lay-off was the first major act of Paul 'Suits and Boots' Bremmer when he hit the ground running in a still burning Baghdad. It was followed, in rapid succession, by:
1) The opening of the all the country's borders to unrestricted imports.
2) The liquidation of all state-owned companies and assets.
3) Order 37, which lowered Iraq's corporate tax rate from 40 to a flat 15%.
4) Order 39, which allowed foreign companies to own 100% of Iraqi assets (except for the natural resource sector, which was a lesser but significant percentage).
5) Order 40, which allowed foreign banks to move in and rapidly establish financial hegemony.
6) Reinstatement of Saddam's policy that severely curtails all union organizing and collective bargaining.

In other words, Bremmer had a plan. And that plan would use all means necessary, including force, to create a Laissez-Faire Utopia so Fantasmagoric that, in the words of sometime Bush good 'ol Boytoy John McCain, it would become a :

"....huge pot of honey that (would) attract a lot of flies."

The flies McCain was referring to were not Terrorists but rather Multinationals. In other words, folks from the likes of Bechtel, Halliburton and KPMG who would come for the decidely un-Laissez-Fairyish No-Bid Contracts and would stay for the Greed.

Because, in the fevered Neandercon mind at least, bottomless corporate greed begets profit which begets jobs and products and services and everything else (read cellphones and HDTVs) that anyone could possibly need or want.

But just exactly who would want those things?

Well, it turned out that it wasn't the natives who had been fired. Or their families. Or the even greater number of folks that were laid off when the factories were sold and stripped of their assets. Or the folks with farms or stores or companies that could not compete with the incoming tsunami of foreign goods. Or the folks that could not find food or basic services, or electricity, or schools, or personal safety.

But for the sharp-eyed young true believers from the American Enterprise Institute that were running the Coaltion Provisional Authority the plight of the natives did not matter one whit because, as Joe Allbaugh, former Bush-Cheney 2000 campaign manager and newly minted Chairman of honey pot maker 'New Bridge Strategies' put it:

"One well-stocked 7-Eleven could knock out thirty Iraqi stores; a Wal-Mart could take over the country."

****

Of course, things didn't quite work out the way Messrs. Bremmer, McCain and Allbaugh et al. intended.

And now even King George II himself has had to back down, last week telling the NY Times that his administration "miscalculated" post-war conditions in Iraq - and that those conditions were a result of unforseen swift victory.

Sure, he "miscalculated" alright, but not because of his swift (boat liar's) victory.

Instead, he and his very best friends miscalculated because they had their Heads of Very Little Brain stuck in Honey Pots of their own making.

****

The last word on this one goes to Klein, and it is a message that must be remembered as the excuse making and obfuscation accelerates in the run-up to the American election in November.

"The fact that the (economic) boom never came and Iraq continues to tremble under explosions of a very different sort should never be blamed on the absence of a plan. Rather, the blame rests with the plan itself, and the extraordinarily violent ideology upon which it is based"

Friday, August 20, 2004

The latest Mustel Poll is out and the talking heads are all a twitter.

The upshot of the 'analysis' is that, overall, the NDP has fallen and the Liberals have risen.

As a result the two parties are in a dead heat.

So, weird post federal election bounces notwithstanding, it is clear that the onslaught of dribble-back, drool-cup, good news announcements in the last few weeks have bamboozled a small chunk of the electorate into thinking that the massive and sustained slash and burn cuts to scores of Provincial programs never happened.

But more on that later, because there is a nice chunk of very good news buried deep within the poll that cannot be denied:

August '04 Results

Campbell

Approve

32%

Disapprove

58%

Undecided

10%

In other words, the voters of B.C. are still against Mr. Campbell almost 2 to 1, with very few undecideds.

This is a mountain of discontent that is almost unscaleable.

Thus, the real question now is not whether Campbell can spin those numbers on the public but rather whether or not he can turn them 'round on the big money boys that can give him the thumbs down on a moment's notice.

As a result, for the first time in a long time I'm actually hoping that Gordo wins one for a change.

Why?

Because a small victory for the Peasant Slayer today just may ensure his, and his party's, ultimate defeat nine months from now.

Friday, August 13, 2004

There is a waterheaded Senator named James Inofe in the States who is 'outraged by the outrage' expressed by the So-Called Liberal Media (SCLM) in the wake of Sy Hersh's expose of the 'fraternity pranks' at Abu-Ghraib prison.

Now, while nobody would ever accuse CanWestGlobal of running a SCLM in British Columbia, particularly if you subscribe to the dictionary definition of 'liberal' as opposed to the bastardized version used by the S.S. Gordon Campbell, it does appear that a smidgeon of Senator Inofe's way of thinking has rubbed off on the Aspers' star columnist, Vaughn Palmer.

Because, of all the local pundits, it was Mr. Palmer who was most outraged by the outrage over the BC Ferries Shipbuilding Fiasco.

Palmers' argument, as outlined in his Aug 4th, 2004 column, goes something like this:1) BC Ferries is now a private corporation.
2) A private corporation must do what's best for the bottom line.
3) The bottom line is best served when the corporation operates independently of government.
4) The corporation's independence is protected by it's appointed commisioner.
5) The commisioner is happy with the procurement process; ergo, everything is on the up and up.

All of which seems reasonable, at least at first glance. However, if you dig a little deeper it is quite clear that all five points are based on a set of false assumptions (ie. total crap) that have been soundly refuted by David Schreck at Strategic Thoughts:

'....It must be remembered that there is no private owner of BC Ferries. In the words of the Honourable Madam Justice Allan in her recent decision refusing to grant an injunction to BC Ferries against the park-and-ride operator, "…B.C. Ferries is simply not in the same position as a private homeowner or businessperson, regardless of the fact it is a private company rather than a Crown corporation. The public aspect of both the premises and the defendant's purpose for entering them is overwhelming. BC Ferries' website indicates that the BC Ferry Authority owns BC Ferries' common shares and appoints its Board of Directors and the BC Government owns its preferred shares, a debenture and the terminals.....'

Thus, based on the evidence, it would not be unreasonable to suggest that 'Independent' Ferry Commissioner Martin Crilly might actually be functioning as a teflon shield designed to deflect attention from the dastardly deeds of the BC Ferries' Big Bossman, David Hahn.

If indeed that is the case, what, exactly, might Mr. Hahn have to hide?

We think that there are at least two possibilites worth considering. Perhaps not coincidentally, there are also two European shipbuilding firms in play here, at least according to Norman Gidney in his Aug 04/04 piece in the Victoria Times Colonist.

Let's take Flensburger Schiffbau-Gellschaft of Germany first....

This company is owned by a tight little outfit called Egon Oldendorff Carriers, also German, which likes to get into bed with a certain Multinational that (mostly) operates out Canada.

"Canadian Steamships Lines International Inc. (CSLI), a subsidiary of CSL,also operates a fleet of international self-unloading bulk carriers. Most of its ships are in a shipping pool with those of the German shipowner Egon Oldendorff (EO)."

So, if you were Davey 'Jones Locker' Hahn and you wanted to have somebody in your corner with the clout to waive that federally-mandated $125 million tariff that is supposed to kick in if you don't build the Ferries in Canada who better than the owner of CSL and current Prime Minister Paul Martin!

And if somebody, say a media-type who actually has the get up and go to first do a Google search and then has the guts to file a story that might blow the whistle on this nefarious plot (don't know about you, but I'm not holding my breath), then Mr Hahn could always throw the Oldendorff/CSL Strawman on the fire and fallback on Plan B, which is Aker Finnyards.

Here's the abbreviated story on Aker.....It is owned by Kvaerner Holding AS which has partnerships with, and has shared the same CEO with, a huge European conglomerate called ABB Systems. Interestingly enough, a major division of ABB recently merged with American Multinational Arthur Andersen/Accenture.

As we've reported before, that would be the same ABB that is running the Hecate Straight WindPower Project and the same Accenture that is bleeding BC Hydro dry.

But even more importantly in this case, one of Accenture's main claims to fame is it's self-professed expertise in facilitating massive 'outsourcing'.

Which, of course brings us full circle.

Because, if Davey Jones can use his connections to kill off union shipbuilding in this Province now via massive outsourcing he will be able to herald the coming of a new wave of local, but no doubt multinational-financed, non-union companies that will gobble up that second round of contracts to build new smaller, simpler ferries later.

And what will happen to all those skilled shipbuilders who lose their jobs, their houses, and maybe families because they can't keep it together when they are rehired at half their original wage?

Well, they can always agree with Vaughn Palmer that there is no outrage to be found 'round here.

After all, why should we be outraged when the bonfire burning that first Strawman is being fuelled with our own, not Hahn's, money.

Welcome to NeanderConLand.

(Note: because of CanWestGlobal's desire to flush everything down the Memoryhole, the original pieces by Palmer and Gidney are no longer freely linkable.)

"Erin Airton said she was contacted by two senior (Belinda) Stronach officials who floated the possibility of a job at $35,000 over a 60-day period. The Stronach campaign knew she had already been speaking with (Tony) Clement, Ms. Airton said, and speculated they were trying to take her out of the competition."

Locally, Ms. Airton plies her trade as the designated right-sider of the Friday morning political sparring matches on Rafe Mair's show. Last week she took a beating when she was repeatedly whacked up the side of the head by the facts and cold, hard numbers thrown her way by designated left-sider David Schreck.

It was hard to make out the gist of Airton's defensive responses through all the screeching, caterwauling and obfuscating, but it seemed to go something like this....

1) David, you always lose the listeners when you give them too many facts.2) David, your numbers are just too darned hard for the average listener to understand.3) David, you need to grasp the fact that complicated things are, well, complicated.4) OK, OK, OK, when you catch me in lies and exaggerations I'm always prepared to change my tune and agree with you David.5) But David, it's Friday and all of the union workers will be leaving for the Sunshine Coast by 4pm today anyway, which is why we're in so much trouble in this Province.6) If you knew anything at all about business David you would know that what we really need in this Province is a Structural Correction.

The first five points mean nothing to me.

After all, they are just more of the same old/same old from those whose job it is to try and get us to drink the Kool-Aid.

But that last point has been buzzing around in my head for days now. Was Ms. Airton trying to tell me something I didn't already know? Or was she foreshadowing? Or was she talking in code? Or, and this was the part that has really been eating away at me, did she let something slip that we, the Peasants, are not supposed to know?

I figured the only way to find out was to go a-googling in search of the 'Real World of Business According To Eirin' (stay with me here, it's worth it).....

This first pass led me to this little piece of PR flim-flammery, apparently written by Erin herself:

"Uniterre Resources Ltd. has traded on the Vancouver Stock Exchange, and now the Toronto Venture Exchange, since 1967. The current directors include Michael H. Altman, Michael C Burns, Larry Blonde, Steve Sanders, David Korbin and Lou Starck. Uniterre has interests in oil and gas ventures in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Texas and is a major partner in the development of Canada's largest wind farm, Nai Kun, located in the Hecate Strait."

Hmmm.... so Airton is hacking for a gang of local old boys who are getting set to leverage a sweetheart deal that will score environmental 'greening' points for the S.S. Gordon Campbell in the run-up to the distinctly ungreen lifting of the moratorium on offshore oil and gas drilling.

Dastardly to be sure, but on the face of it nothing outside of the extremely elastic moral boundaries that these folks normally operate under.

Except you also have to remember that members of the local NeanderCon Chapter rarely act alone. In fact, it is pretty much a given that they will always trade a little short term leverage (ie. cash, or in kind, injection) up front to sell the rest of us down the river later. In this case it appears that we will soon be giving it up, at least in part, to those dastardly Europeans again.

"....(Uniterrre) signed a joint-venture agreement with ABB New Ventures of Mannheim to build a 700 megawatt wind farm off Nai Kun in the shallow waters of Hecate Strait off the east coast of Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands). ABB New Ventures is a division of one of the world's largest engineering firms."

Now, ABB is an interesting company with tentacles that stretch all over the place, including shipbuilding. In addition they are also in bed with...are you ready for this.....Accenture!

"ABB and Accenture are joining forces to offer consulting, technology, and business transformationsolutions, which are based on their complementary skills and common understanding of customer needs."

You all remember Accenture, right? It's the consulting arm of the that fine American Multi-National with Patriot Act connections formerly known as Arthur Andersen (yes, that Arthur Andersen....see the FBI re: Enron) that has been given carte blanche by the local yahoos to plunder BC Hydro.

So, just what are these 'business transformation solutions' that Accenture is so good at?

Monday, August 09, 2004

Last week, we wondered why the Neandercons in general, and 'Boy' George Abbott and Christy 'Helmut Hair' Clarke in particular, were suddenly going soft on the Peasants.

Well maybe it has something to do with this, from the last Province-wide Mustel poll:
"The most recent Mustel Group poll (taken July 2-6) indicates that support for the BC Liberals continues to decline. If an election were held tomorrow, the BC Liberals would have the support of 33% of decided voters (down from 40% in April) and the NDP the support of 45% of decided voters (up directionally from 41% ).

For the first time in several years, men tend to support the NDP rather than the BC Liberals (44% versus 36% supporting BC Liberals). Among women, 45% would vote NDP and 28% would support the BC Liberals.

Geographically, the NDP leads in every region of the province except the Lower Mainland suburbs (outside the City of Vancouver), where support for the BC Liberals and NDP is almost equal (38% BC Liberals, 40% NDP)."

For Mr. Campbell this is horrow show stuff or, at the very least, worse than being locked in a room with a hectoring Grace McCarthy without a drink for two hours.

Gotta wonder if Gordo is starting to get a hankering to make another visit to Freddy Latrimouille so he can take one more moonlight drive.

Seem far fetched?

Maybe.

But consider this for a moment, if you will.......

When, exactly, was the last time you saw Mr. Campbell with a smile on his face?

Thursday, August 05, 2004

Former NDP Cabinet Minister Paul Ramsey wrote a solid forward-looking piece in the Tyee a while back in which he suggested that Gordo and Minions will soon attempt to lock the ugliest of their ideological twins in the closet during the run-up to the coming election:
"....It's the oldest political trick in the book: make "good news" announcements and increase the chances of success on election day. Improving education for our children is popular; cleaning up the environment is popular; buying better medical equipment for hospitals is popular. Strategists hope that some of the popularity of the actions will rub off on the politicians making them...."

And why not.

After all, when you've spent three years bashing the Peasants over the head with your Ne(r)oCon Fiddles the only sensible thing to do is pay your cronies big bucks to hand out a few bandaids to cover the lacerations and then move on.

Ramsey's comments were initially met with derision by many but now it appears that the process has begun in earnest according to Sean Holman at Private Eye.

First there was the Liberal-mandated hiring of Daniel Fontaine to run a nifty little Games 2010 P.R. Flackhouse called 'Legacies Now'. Those acquainted with the seedier side of Vancouver civic politics may remember Mr. Fontaine. He was the main fixer who was obtained on loan from Colin Hansen to run Jennifer Clarke's failed dirty trick-laden Mayoralty campaign. If you can't quite recall that debacle you will remember the internal NPA coup that got the ball rolling. That was the one where Big Developer friends handed Ms. Clarke a very sharp knife that she used to skewer incumbent mayor Philip Owen because he went crazy and started showing signs of independence, and even worse, concern for the junkies, the sick, and the whores.

But I digress, because when he's not shilling for the local liquor industry the Fixer Fontaine will now be:
".....using LegaciesNow announcements as part of their pre-election campaign, churning out photo-opportunities for government members....."

Nice work if you can stoop low enough to get it, but then comes flipside of the double-whammy, again according to Sean Holman:

"...A senior government insider travelling aboard the S.S. Gordon Campbell tells us some ministries have been instructed to "not even think" about legislation or regulations between now and May. The reason: the provincial Liberals will be too busy preparing for the next election...."

Tuesday, August 03, 2004

Considering the fact that the Western Canada Wilderness Committee handed him his head on the 'Working Forests Initiative' issue, it's no surprise that Provincial 'Sustainable Resource Management' Minister George Abbott doesn't want to have anything to do with WCWC spokesman Ken Wu :

'....Abbott said he spoke to Wu three times on (last) Thursday (before the surrender), and in the last conversation, Wu thanked the minister for listening. "I don't know whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, but I'm trying to accept it as a compliment," Abbott said.'

In other words, Boy George hates it when people actually pay attention to what he says and does, especially when it becomes common knowledge that a year-old government-commissioned consultation report indicated no public support for the 'Working Forest Initiative' that would have privatized half the Crown Land in the Province.

But what can a Poor Boy Do when nobody believes that Raping the Forests has anything to do with either 'Resource Management' or 'Sustainability'?

Clearly, Mr. Abbott doesn't have the chops to Slave in a Rock and Roll Band.

But we do hear that Master Axeman Dick Cheney, who recently visited the nearby the State of Washington to flog his very own Forest Destroying 'Healthy Forest Initiative' may be looking for a new gig soon.

So if Abbott can convince Cheney to change his name to Costello maybe the two of them can take their act on the road and do the old Double-Speak Schtick while asking each other 'Who's on First?'

Of course that wouldn't be Dubya. After all, Commander Codpiece was born on Third and figures he hit a Triple.

Point of all this?..... British Columbia Liberal Policy is nothing more than Bush-League stuff masquerading as the Real Thing.